500 Days of Charlie
by Blackbirdox
Summary: Charlie refuses to believe that love exists. Knox falls for him anyway.


**Disclaimer: I don't own Dead Poets Society or (500) Days of Summer. I just own the DVDs and tons of love for both of them.**

**A/N: I was determined to start writing for DPS again and this idea just came to me after one too many viewings of (500) Days of Summer. I think the story and the characters of Tom and Summer fit Knox and Charlie so well so I couldn't resist the urge to combine them. I tried to make it so that you haven't had to see the movie to understand the plot but I think it definitely helps if you have. And if you haven't, you really should because it's a fantastic movie. Anyway, I'm actually really proud of how this turned out so I hope you all enjoy it. :)**

(290)

"It's over," Knox announces dejectedly as he wanders into the room, his face blank and expressionless, and curls up in a ball on top of the blankets

Neil raises an eyebrow and closes his book, pulling him self into a sitting position on the opposite side of the room. "Charlie?" he asks, as if he didn't already know.

"Charlie."

Neil purses his lips as he slides out of bed and pads across the floor, sitting down on the edge of Knox's bed and placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. "What happened?"

Knox is silent for several moments before he inhales shakily and simply says, "I love him."

(1)

The campus is busy and bustling and crowded and Knox has run into more people than he can count. His suitcase is heavy in his hands and there's sweat beading on the back of his neck, creating an uncomfortable chafe from where the collar of his shirt rubs against it. His excitement over finally making it to college has been replaced with irritation and all he wants to do is find his damn dorm room already before he collapses or melts into a puddle all over the grounds

It takes about fifteen more minutes before he stumbles into the doorway of room 216, breathing hard and heavy and drenched in sweat. He drops his bags by the door and wanders over to the empty bed on the right side of the room, flopping back onto it with a content sigh.

"How is it so hot?" he asks, turning his head to the side slightly to address the boy on the other side of the room who has paused in his unpacking and is now holding a pair of mismatched socks in his hand.

"It's the middle of August?" he guesses, dropping the socks back onto his bed as he approaches Knox, hand outstretched. "I'm Neil. Neil Perry."

Knox takes his proffered hand and gives it a shake. "I'm Knox Overstreet."

Neil quirks an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth curling up into a lopsided grin. "That's kind of a funny name," he teases, giving Knox a good natured swat on the back.

Knox laughs but before he can respond, the door to the room swings back open, crashing back against the wall with a loud boom. Neil's head snaps up in that direction and the smile on his face spreads into a full on smirk. "Charlie!"

Knox's jaw drops as the guy in the doorway, Charlie, apparently, saunters into the room- all swagger and sex appeal with sun kissed skin and shaggy, sandy hair. He's _gorgeous _and that's certainly not a term that Knox will throw around loosely. He's so caught up in just staring, eyes wide and mouth hanging open, that he nearly misses their introduction.

"Charlie," Neil is saying. "This is my roommate Knox. Knox, this is my best friend Charlie."

"Knox," Charlie drawls, nodding his head in his direction.

Knox quickly snaps his mouth shut and reciprocates the nod, trying to be cool and act as if his heart wasn't hammering in his chest and his stomach wasn't fluttering and his breath wasn't caught in his throat. "C-Charlie," he stammers out, awkwardly clearing his throat. He loves the way that rolls off his tongue.

Charlie arches one eyebrow before turning back around to face Neil again. "Anyway, I gotta go. I'll catch up with you later."

Knox's stomach is still fluttering as he watches him walk away.

(302)

"Knox, you really need to get over this," Neil tells him over breakfast, gulping down another sip of his now cold coffee, as is their routine.

They sit in the same booth every morning and order the same thing- Neil scarfs down his breakfast and Knox doesn't touch his- and then they talk. Well, Neil talks and tries to get him to respond but Knox just stays silent or whines about Charlie every so often.

Knox continues to stare blankly out the window of the café, the one he always came to with Charlie, the one that has the tables they used to play footsie under and the pancakes they used to share, and he just sort of grunts absently.

"Knox…" Neil tries again.

"I don't want to get over him," he announces suddenly, turning towards Neil with a brightness in his eyes that has been noticeably lacking lately. "I want to get him back."

(7)

Neil slides into the seat at the library table across from Knox, smirk clearly evident. "You like him," he says as he places his elbows on the table, his hands folded under his chin.

Knox drops his pen as his head snaps up in surprise, his cheeks turning pink. He clears his throat and shuffles his papers around a little, trying to pretend that he has no idea what Neil is talking about.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he voices, refusing to meet his roommate's gaze.

Neil clucks his tongue. "You liar," he chides, leaning back in his seat with a certain air of smugness.

"I'm not-."

"I'm talking about Charlie."

Knox tries to pretend that his heart hasn't just leapt into his throat at the mere mention of Charlie's name. "I don't like Charlie," he insists, keeping his gaze level with the surface of the table.

"Knox."

"Neil."

"_Knox_."

"Fine!" Knox all but shouts, garnering several annoyed looks from their fellow students and one absolutely murderous glare from the librarian. "Fine," he repeats, lowering his voice that time. "I like him, okay?"

Neil looks so utterly smug and proud of himself that Knox just wants to punch him in the face. "I knew it," he insists, making Knox want to grab his head and slam it onto the edge of the table instead.

"Yeah, well… whatever," he replies petulantly, crossing his arms over his chest.

Neil's eyes are dancing with amusement. "I've got a good feeling about this."

(101)

"Charlie, this isn't going to work."

Charlie just laughs and his breath is hot and wet against the shell of Knox's ear. "Oh, hush, ye of little faith."

One of Knox's hands scramble along the tile wall of the shower in an attempt to find something to grab a hold of while the other remains twisted in Charlie's hair. "I'm slipping," he warns.

And then he yelps in surprise because Charlie's hand slides down from its place on his lower back and settles it on his ass, giving it a playful smack as he scoots him up a little. "Would you just relax?"

His lips trail down along his jaw and then his neck and he nips and bites a little places a long the way. "This'll be fun."

Knox is still wary, but that all fades when Charlie shifts his hips and thrusts into him, effectively causing his mind to go blank of any coherent thoughts except for Charlie and oh fuck and _ohgodCharlie._

It's not until Charlie loses his footing and they both go tumbling, tearing down the shower curtain as the land smack down on the floor, that Charlie agrees that shower sex might not have been the most well thought out idea he's ever had.

They're just going to have to find a way to work out the kinks.

(18)

Charlie laughs, Neil smirks and Knox chokes on his own saliva and turns bright red, wishing that there was some way for the earth to just open up and swallow him because he's sure he's never been so embarrassed in his entire life.

"A-A date?" he splutters out, glancing between Neil and Charlie with comically wide eyes.

Neil rolls his eyes. "I'm tired of you," he jabs his finger in Knox's direction, "making up excuses for me to take you to Charlie's dorm and I'm more than tired of you," the finger goes toward Charlie that time, "going on and on about Knox's quote, sweet ass." He grimaces. "So you're going on a date and that's final."

Knox and Charlie exchange matching, skeptical glances and then Charlie smirks and nods, seeming genuinely pleased by the idea. "There's a bar right off campus. Meet me there tomorrow around eight?"

Knox sort of feels like he's suddenly swallowed his tongue and he can't seem to force any words out of his mouth so he just nods.

Charlie grins- all teeth and dimples. "Keen."

(19)

Knox is wasted- full on drunk off his ass, no longer responsible for his actions, _wasted_.

He's always been a bit of a light weight that's completely incapable of holding his liquor and the pre-date drinks to calm his nerves coupled with the number of beers- three, or maybe even four- he's had since they arrived at the bar have his mind clouded and fuzzy.

Which explains the reasoning behind him thinking that karaoke was a good idea.

Charlie had been amused by the patrons stumbling up on stage, filling the bar with the sounds of slurred, horrendously off key singing, and each and every one of them had made him laugh. And Knox had decided he really, really liked seeing Charlie laugh so with that thought in mind, he'd downed the last of his beer and made his way up to the front of the room.

He nearly topples off the edge of the stage twice as he teeters around it and he doesn't even really sing, per se, just sort of grumbles into the microphone and hums along to the Beatles' _Love Me Do_, but he does end up sounding better than the majority of the people who had gone before him.

It even gets him a standing ovation and a laugh and a wolf whistle out of Charlie which almost makes the embarrassment worth it. _Almost_.

He returns to the booth in the corner and slides onto the bench next to Charlie, flushing as his arm drapes over Knox's shoulders. "Think you've had enough to drink tonight?" he teases, flashing the smile that makes Knox's insides feel like warm, melted butter.

He nods. "Probably."

Across the table, Neil, who had insisted on making their date a double, grins as he drapes his own arm across the shoulders of Todd, the boy he'd been quietly dating since high school. "They're cute, aren't they?" he whispers, just to be safe, even though he figures Knox and Charlie are too caught up in laughing at one another to overhear.

Todd watches them for a moment before he nods in agreement, snuggling himself into Neil's side. "They really are."

(19 1/2)

"_Jesus_, Knox," Charlie laughs, hoisting him up a little more as Knox's feet began to slip and slide along the carpet of the hallway. "You are _so_ drunk."

"So?" he slurs, his lips popping out into an exaggerated pout. "I'm not… _that_ drunk!"

Charlie quickly places a hand over his mouth to silence him. "Shut up." The dorm is relatively silent, as everyone has turned in by now, but Knox's slurred speech is getting progressively louder and Charlie's not particularly fond of the idea of waking someone up and getting themselves caught. "You are," he insists in a hushed whisper as he fishes his key out of his pocket, instantly pulling back his other hand with a hiss when Knox's tongue darts out to lick it. "Ugh. Gross."

Knox begins to giggle- actually _giggle_- as he stumbles into Charlie's room. His roommate Steven is home for the weekend and the knowledge of that, of Charlie and an empty room all to themselves, makes Knox absolutely giddy.

So the moment that Charlie has the door shut, Knox attacks- pushing him back against it and crashing his lips onto his. He doesn't get much of a response at first, just a surprised little gasp, and so he tries again and shoves his tongue into Charlie's mouth. That finally gets a rise out of him and his fingers knot themselves into Knox's hair as he eager returns the kiss.

It's wet and warm and sloppy and tastes a little too much like alcohol but neither of them care. Knox ruts his hips against Charlie and Charlie groans and backs him up until his knees hit the edge of the bed and he topples down onto it.

Knox pulls him down onto the bed as well and for a moment, the only noises to be heard are creaking springs and clashing teeth and the wet, sucking sound of kissing but then Charlie's voice breaks the silence with a strangled and husky, "no."

Bewildered, Knox releases Charlie's shirt from his iron grip and frowns, trying to make sense of this. "But-."

"You're drunk, remember?"

"But-."

"When you're sober, we can."

"But-."

"Trust me, babe," Charlie smirks. "You're going to want to remember it."

Knox shuts up immediately.

(138)

"It's off."

Neil raises an eyebrow but doesn't bother to glance up from the piece of paper he's scribbling on, desperately trying to finish the paper that's due in approximately thirty minutes. "Huh?"

"With Charlie. It's off."

The pen slowly tapers off to a stop and Neil glances up in surprise, pushing the frame of his glasses back up the bridge of his nose. "What do you mean it's off? Charlie's…" He flounders for a moment, trying to come up with an appropriate term. "Well, Charlie's pretty crazy about you."

Knox, sprawled face down on his bed, snorts into his pillow. "He is not."

Neil glances at his paper, then his roommate, then his paper again and then he sighs, running a hand through his hair. "What happened?"

Knox turns his head just slightly so that he can face Neil. "So, I ran into him after class, right? I haven't seen him for awhile so we're talking and I asked him how his weekend was and do you know what he said to me?"

"No, Knox. I don't."

"He said it was _good._"

Neil blinks. "Excuse me?"

"He said it was good, Neil!" he exclaims as he rolls onto his back, his hands flailing wildly. "_Good_!"

Neil takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes because a simple hand through the hair gesture isn't going to be enough for this one. "I heard you the first time, Knox. What's so bad about a good weekend?"

"It wasn't that it was a good weekend, Neil. It was a, I-spent-my-time-occupying-the-beds-of-random-strangers, kind of good."

"You gathered all that from one word? Really?"

Knox just glares at him. "I'm serious!"

"Knox…"

"No, Neil. No." He pulls himself up into a sitting position and heaves a sigh. "I can tell. I know what he looks like after sex and I know that the bruises all over his neck did not come from walking into a wall or anything else of that nature."

"_Oh_."

"Oh," Knox repeats, the frown on his face making him look entirely too much like a kicked puppy.

Neil is silent for a moment before he cracks a small smile, trying to lighten the mood somewhat. "What a whore."

(54)

Charlie takes another drag from his cigarette, blowing rings of smoke into the already hazy air around them. Knox, settled happily against his bare chest, inhales deeply and smiles to himself because he loves it when Charlie smokes. The scent of it and the way he looks when he's doing it and the way his mouth will taste later- all of it is positively addicting.

"So you don't do commitment, then?" he asks, bringing around the subject of their earlier conversation.

Charlie shrugs and he runs his fingers through Knox's hair, obviously more at ease now. "Not really, no. I don't see the point, you know?"

Knox shifts so he can face him better, the fabric of the sheets crinkling beneath him. "Why not?"

"Well… we're young and we have the whole rest of our lives to be tied down. Why start now?"

Knox considers this and then nods when he decides it makes sense. "Okay. But what happens if you fall in love?"

Charlie chuckles. "You really believe in that?"

Knox's eyebrows furrow and the corners of his mouth pull down into a frown. "It's love. It's not Santa Claus."

Charlie mumbles something along the lines of, "might as well be", but then he ducks his head and pulls Knox into a kiss and that taste is there, warm and musky and tangy on his tongue, and he doesn't really stop, nor does he care to, to worry about anything he's just said.

(140)

"No one ever said we were exclusive!"

Knox is fuming- absolutely _livid_- and Charlie is cradling his jaw in his hand from where he'd been punched, his eyes widened with shock and darkened with anger.

"That doesn't mean you can just go off and fuck other people, Charlie!"

He scoffs, then winces, gingerly rubbing the growing red mark at the bottom of his jaw. "That's exactly what it means!"

Knox just stands there and glowers at him for a minute or so before he relents and takes a step backwards, his cheeks stained red with embarrassment. "No. You're right. I know that. I just… oh, _Christ_. I'm sorry."

He hides his face in his hands, having another one of those moments where he wishes he could just disappear. They're just friends and he knows that. It was a mutual decision and he knows he shouldn't have a problem with it but sometimes, like when he catches Charlie staring at a girl across the room- the one's with too much makeup or too short skirts- or flirting with a random guy at a party, he just can't help but to be a little jealous.

"Its fine," Charlie replies, waving his hand in a dismissive, flippant gesture. "I didn't care much for the right hook, though."

Knox peeks through his fingers and offers a sheepish smile. "Well, I wouldn't have thrown it if you didn't deserve it."

"Take it easy next time."

"…Is there going to be a next time?"

Charlie stops and thinks about it and then blinks, once and then again, before he shakes his head. "No."

(378)

"Charlie?"

"Knox?"

Knox just stares because his throat feels swollen and his heart has plummeted into his stomach and he doesn't think he'd be able to say much of anything except a few random stutters anyway. The bookstore suddenly feels no bigger than a closet and he's tempted to just turn around and run right out the door.

It's been months since he's laid eyes on Charlie and he had just been starting to think that maybe, just maybe, he'd be able to move on, but of course Charlie would just have to come waltzing back into his life, as handsome and suave as ever.

His hair is significantly longer than it was the last time Knox had seen him, nearly hitting his chin now, and it's stringy and messy with just the slightest hint of a wave in it. His face is covered in stubble, there are thick, dark circles beneath his eyes and the smell of alcohol and pot are wafting around him but even though he's completely raggedy and unkempt, Knox doesn't think he's ever looked better.

Charlie clears his throat and shoves his hands into his pockets as he leans his back against the bookshelf behind him. "It's uh, good to see you again."

Knox's jaw sets with a tick but he doesn't really have it in his heart to be mad at him. This whole meeting feels so surreal and dream like and even if it is actually a dream, he doesn't want to spend what little time he has with Charlie fighting. So instead, he sets the book back on its place on the shelf and nods his head. "It's good to see you too."

He awkwardly fiddles with the edge of his waistcoat, feeling utterly ridiculous and overdressed next to Charlie whose just emanating sex appeal in a simple pair of dark brown corduroys and an emerald green sweater. "So… I heard you dropped out," he says, trying to find something that's casual enough for them to talk about.

"Yeah, well, I've never been all that fond of school." Charlie shrugs. "Studying art wasn't helping me much. It's easier to just get out there and do it." He holds up his hands, covered with smears of charcoal, for evidence and flashes a toothy grin- the one that makes Knox's insides twist into knots.

"Uh, yeah," he replies stupidly, tucking his hands into his pockets as well as he mentally kicks himself for always being so awkward. "I imagine it would be."

Charlie hums in conformation and rocks back and forth on the balls of his feet, gnawing hard on his bottom lip as he considers what to do next. "Well," he says finally. "I'm kind of hungry. You wanna go get some pancakes?"

(282)

"I love you."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

"You… love me?"

"I'm sorry."

(297)

"Mr. Overstreet? Can I see you for a moment?"

Knox glances up from his desk and frown as he quickly finishes putting away his things and throws his backpack over his shoulder, making his way down to the front of the classroom.

"Mr. Keating?" he asks as he comes to a stop in front of his professor's desk.

Mr. Keating shuffles through a stack of papers before pulling one out. "Knox," he sighs, leaning back in his seat. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to redo the poetry assignment."

Knox's eyebrows furrow in confusion. "What? Why?" He doesn't exactly remember what the poetry assignment was, but then again, he really doesn't remember anything these days, but he knows he turned something in for it. He just doesn't know what it had been.

Mr. Keating places the paper face up on his desk and slides it over for Knox to see. "I'm afraid that uh, 'roses are red, violets are blue, fuck you whore' doesn't constitute as an actual poem, Mr. Overstreet."

Knox flushes and ducks his head. Oh, right. That. "Sorry," he mumbles, garnering a small chuckle out of the professor.

"You don't need to apologize to me, Knox. I think it's quite well written, actually…"

Knox forces a small smile and grabs his paper, shoving it into his bag along with the rest of his things. "I'll have something for you tomorrow."

"Wait, Knox."

He freezes and then cringes, looking back at Mr. Keating over his shoulder. "Yes?"

"Is there something going on that you'd like to talk about?"

Knox shoots him a look that manages to say _are you crazy? _and _hell fucking no_ at the same time. "Uh. No thank you."

Ensuring that he doesn't get caught in the midst of an awkward conversation he definitely does not want to be in, he turns on his heel and scurries out of the classroom as fast his feet can take him, trying to ignore the way the fissures of his heart are starting to split a little further apart.

(290 ¾)

Knox has grown calm again, his breathing has evened back out and his tears have stopped- and Neil has been sworn to secrecy to ensure that the fact that Knox had actually cried will never leave their room.

"So tell me again what happened."

Knox sighs, wincing slightly as the action chafes his dry throat, and lays his head on Neil's lap. "He just said it was over. Said we were friends and that that was all we ever were."

Neil cringes as he trails his fingers through Knox's hair. "I… I'm sure he doesn't mean it."

Knox snorts. "He means it, Neil."

"You don't know that," he sighs. "I've known him since we were five years old and he's always been a little… well, stupid. He'll come around."

"We'll see about that."

(400)

Knox just manages to haul himself out of bed when the clock goes off. His head feels fuzzy and his limbs feel heavy and he's exhausted from yet another night of not sleeping- too plagued by memories, both old and fresh, to get any rest.

He stumbles his way over to the tiny bathroom and he can't even recognize himself in the mirror anymore.

His appearance seems to go in cycles, there's a with Charlie Knox and a post Charlie Knox, and he wonders if he's ever going to be able to return to just being Knox.

(234)

Charlie glances up from his sketchbook for a fraction of a second before he goes back to scribbling- the tip of his tongue poking out from between his lips as he concentrates on the paper in front of him. His sleeves are pushed up and the skin of his hands and arms are becoming smudged with blue ink as he continues to scrawl furiously.

It takes him just another few minutes to finish his drawing and he heaves an exhausted sigh as he tosses Knox the book and flops back into the grass. "There you go."

Knox's jaw drops a little as he stares down at the sketching of the skyline of the city- each line and angle and minute detail is perfect and identical to the real thing, just in miniature. "Charlie… this is amazing," he gushes.

Charlie just shrugs and brings his hand up to shield his eyes from the glare of the sun. "It's alright. It could be a lot better."

Knox snorts incredulously as he sets the book down and lies down beside Charlie. "It is," he insists as he curls up and lets his head loll onto Charlie's shoulder. "You have a real talent."

"I guess," Charlie replies as he leans down and brushes his lips across Knox's forehead. "I don't do this place justice, though." He sighs as he waves his hand around the grassy hill, his so called favorite spot in the city. "It's too..."

"Beautiful?" Knox guesses.

Charlie laughs. "You're so queer," he teases affectionately. "But yes. It is beautiful."

(333)

The hill is a little less beautiful without Charlie.

The grass is just a green and the sky above it is just as blue and the clouds are just as fluffy and white but everything just looks wrong. Duller, somehow.

Knox can't stomach going there on his own.

(387)

"I-I can't do this."

Knox swallows thickly as the world around him begins to spin and his heart begins to pound from fear and anticipation. "Charlie-."

"No."

He slips out of bed and tugs his pants back on, tugging at his hair as he searches frantically to find the rest of his clothing. "I just… no, Knox. No." He groans in frustration. "Where the fuck is my shirt?"

Knox untangles it from the sheets and blankets and avoids Charlie's gaze as he silently hands it over.

"Then what was this all about?" he asks once Charlie is dressed, his voice barely about the level of a whisper.

Charlie's eyes widen slightly as he begins to panic and stammer, trying to figure out how to respond. "It… I… _Jesus,_ Knox. Sex. What the fuck did you think it was about?"

"You said you missed me."

"Do you believe everything someone tells you?"

"No, but-."

"You shouldn't be so damn easy."

And with that, he slams the door.

(53 3/4)

"So what are we?"

Charlie twists his head to look at Knox. "What do you mean?"

Knox nervously licks his lips. "I mean… we've been sleeping together for awhile. What are we?"

Charlie exhales sharply and quickly looks away, staring blankly up at the ceiling. "We're friends, aren't we?"

"Just friends?"

"…With benefits?"

Knox grins. "Very good benefits."

"I don't do commitment."

The grin quickly fades and Knox just looks bewildered. "What do you-."

Charlie quickly rolls over on top of him and kisses him to shut him up.

(469)

"Pancakes?"

Knox's head snaps up with such force that his neck cracks and he winces, bringing his hand up to absently rub the back of it. "What are you doing here?" he asks, his tone lacking the hardness and the edge he had originally intended it to.

Charlie shrugs as he shuffles his feet. "Neil said you'd be here…"

"I'm here every day," he says, and then blushes a little, hoping that doesn't make him sound like too much of a melodramatic sap. "That doesn't answer my question."

He swallows. "I just… I… Iwantedtoseeyou."

Knox raises and eyebrow as he closes his tattered paperback and gestures for Charlie to sit down across from him. He looks different again- cleaner. His hair is cut and his face is clean shaven and his clothing is pressed and fresh looking. Knox realizes he was wrong in his assessment last time because _this_ is the best that Charlie has ever looked and he doesn't think it's really fair because all he wants to do is crawl across the table and kiss him senseless.

"Why?"

Charlie sighs and, in a very un-Charlie like gesture, begins to awkwardly fidget around in his seat. "I wanted to apologize."

Knox is stunned because he's never once heard those words come out of Charlie's mouth. "A-Apologize?"

He smiles sheepishly. "I was… out of line last time," he says, referring to the door slamming incident. "And I'm… well, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been such a dick to you. You didn't deserve that."

Knox frowns. "No, I didn't."

Charlie unwraps the silverware that's sitting on the table and begins to fiddle with the spoon, twisting and twirling it between his fingers. "I was scared, you know," he mumbles, staring out the window.

Knox raises and eyebrow and just stares at him, trying to ensure that he'd actually heard him correctly. "Scared?"

"Scared," Charlie repeats. "No one has ever been in love with me before." He pauses and then chuckles bitterly. "Well, I've never really given anyone a chance for anyone to be in love with me. I just… I thought we could go back to the way things were before and when I realized we couldn't, I panicked and I had to leave."

"I… I wasn't looking for you to feel the same way. I didn't expect you to."

Charlie nods as he tears his gaze away from the window. "I know that, Knox. I was just being stupid."

Knox manages to force a small smile. "You do have a tendency to do that."

"Oh, you have no idea."

They share a laugh and to Knox's surprise, and pleasure, Charlie reaches over and places his hand over top of his. "Can we… try this again?"

Knox hesitates, drawing his lower lip in between his teeth. "I don't know."

Charlie's face falls for just a second before he manages to recover, screwing up his expression into something that almost resembles a smile. "Well, that's okay."

"No, no." Knox quickly shakes his head. "I just…" He sighs and scratches the edge of his hairline with his free hand. "We'd have to go slow, you know?"

Something that resembled a smile quickly turns into an actual smile- the brilliant, blinding one that Knox has always loved. "Of course."

(500)

Neil looks skeptical. "What do you mean you're back together?"

Charlie rolls his eyes. "I mean, Knox and I are officially back together. How much clearer can I make it?"

Since Neil is still just staring at them, Charlie groans and holds up his and Knox's intertwined hands. "We. Are. Together."

Knox grins, giving Charlie's hand a gentle squeeze. "Honestly Neil. It's not that hard to understand."

Neil looks between the two of them and he's silent for several moments before the lines of his face smooth out into a smile. "I've got a good feeling about this."

(1)

"I love you."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, Knox."

"You… love me?"

"_Knox._"

Chuckling, Knox leans up and captures Charlie's lips in a kiss. "I love you, too."


End file.
